Abstract: “Container liner shipping is a highly competitive industry. With today’s competitive environment, many liner shipping operators have acknowledged that having high operational reliability is a vital element for better overall performance and commitment to achieve a better competitive advantage. Operational reliability has become a key element for liner shipping operators to distinguish themselves from their competitors in the container liner shipping industry. This paper proposes a novel mathematical model for assessing operational reliability of a liner shipping operator using a combination of different decision-making techniques such as a symmetric model, Fuzzy Set Theory, and Bayesian Belief Network (i.e. Fuzzy Bayesian Belief Network). This assessment model is capable of helping liner shipping operators to conduct a self-assessment of operational reliabilgity for enhancing their business performance in the container liner shipping industry.”

Keywords: Assessment model, operational reliability, liner shipping operator, symmetric model, fuzzy set theory, Bayesian belief network.